Kingsway, Camden Catholic, Paulsboro capture mat crowns

TOMS RIVER - When it comes to South Jersey wrestling, it's tough to emerge from the shadows of Camden Catholic and Paulsboro.

But Kingsway managed to do just that by joining the two dynasties in the winner's circle at yesterday's NJSIAA team championships at Toms River North's Ritacco Center.

Kingsway used a late pin by 140-pounder Ryan Dormann to clinch a 33-28 victory over Ocean in the Group 3 finals, which gave the Dragons their third overall championship and first since winning back-to-back titles in 1997-98.

Paulsboro (23-2) continued its dominance of Group 1, extending its national record to 25 straight state championships with a 40-15 win over David Brearley (25-2). Camden Catholic won its fourth straight Non-Public A crown, and eighth in nine years, by defeating Don Bosco Prep, 32-25.

While the Red Raiders and Irish were expected to bring home titles, Kingsway (17-4) proved to be a surprise winner to everyone but itself. After crushing Warren Hills, 55-15, the Dragons were considered a slight underdog to an Ocean team (18-5) that upset High Point in its semifinal round.

"When we were warming up, that was our motivation," Dormann said.

"We don't listen to what other people say; we knew this was our championship to win," second-year coach Tom McConnell said. "We believed in ourselves the whole year. I think every day, we just tried to get a little bit better than we were the day before."

With the match starting at 152 pounds, Kingsway trailed by 22-18 entering the 130-pound bout. John Renard gave the Dragons the lead with first-period pin, and 135-pounder Josh Smith came up with the match's key victory when he took a 5-2 decision over Andrew Van Dyk. The Ocean wrestler was 18-4 while Smith was 16-9.

"Josh Smith pulled out a huge win," McConnell said. "I think that was the key. We knew how tough that kid was and Josh left it all out there."

Dormann then clinched it by pinning Michael Recchia in 5:32.

When the Dragons lifted him onto their shoulders when it was over, he truly felt part of the team.

"I never really felt in with the guys before," Dormann said. "I'm a three-sport athlete, they're all wrestlers, they hang out with each other every day and I'm off with other people a lot. So this really feels great."

Camden Catholic (32-6) also had to scrap against Don Bosco (22-3), falling behind by 15-0 as the result of two first-period pins. With six matches remaining, the Irish trailed by 21-12 entering the 119-pound bout. It could have been worse, but Anthony Maloney came up with a key decision at heavyweight despite giving up nearly 50 pounds to Mike Farr.

Corey Schmidt started the Irish comeback with a decision at 119. Camden Catholic then got five big bonus points when Alan Dyer won by technical fall and Ryan Masterson pinned in 30 seconds. After losing at 135 to let their lead slip to 26-25, the Irish got expected decisions from Dakota Moore and Jackson Brady to win it.

"We were worried when it got to 119," coach Pete DiPol said. "We knew Corey had a tough match. We just started slow. That was the worst match we wrestled all year, but we still won, and that says a lot about us as a team, about our character and what we are made of."

Although the afternoon finals went down to the wire, Paulsboro made quick work of Brearley in its evening match. The Raiders won the first nine bouts, clinching it when Niko Lopez won by decision at 125 to make it 37-0. Highlighting the onslaught were pins by Mike Cucinotta and Demitrius Hester, a technical fall by Joe Duca and major decisions by Gerald Hodges and Alex Silvestro.

Although winning is expected at Paulsboro, even Silvestro is in awe of the fact that the Raiders have been state champions every year for a quarter of a century.

"That is crazy," the Rutgers-bound football player said. "It's just one of those things that when you get it going, it's a national streak, you can't be the class that ends it. We know what we have to do and we work hard to try and accomplish it every year."

Silvestro concedes it is extra special this year, considering it's his last.

"This feels the best, your senior year," he said. "You want to end it on a good note."

They always do at Paulsboro.

The results

GROUP 1

SEMIFINALS

Paulsboro 51, North Warren 10

152: Jeff Hamilton, P, dec. Luke Stefannaci, 7-2. 160: Mike Cucinotta, P, dec. Frank Fox, 2-1. 171: Zach Greenwald, P, pin Dan Lasso, 4:38. 189: Gerald Hodges, P, dec.Tucker McGrath, 11-1. 215: Alex Silvestro, P, pin Mike Crann, 5:16. Hwt.: Demetrius Hester, P, pin Matt Gerstner, 0:37. 103: Eric Dunnet, P, pin Luke Lurz, 0:39. 112: Joe Duca, P, tech. fall Mike Dorn, 5:24 (18-3). 119: Ed Wurtenberger, P, pin Kyle Horn, 3:06. 125: Niko Lopez, P, dec. Kevin Ritchie, 10-8. 130: Garrett Meagher, NW, dec. Brandon Samuels, 11-3. 135: Brant Simmons, NW, dec. Ryan Hoehn, 3-2. 140: Kevin Brown, NW, dec. Justin Sullivan, 8-5. 145: Jim Gentile, P, dec. Rafe Simmons, 10-8.

FINALS

Paulsboro 40, David Brearley 15

160: Mike Cucinotta, P, pin Travis Pilts, 2:58. 171: Zach Greenwald, P, dec. Umar Taramov, 11-5. 189: Gerald Hodges, P, dec. Hany Elshick, 16-8. 215: Alex Silvestro P, dec. Jesse Boyden, 12-1. Hwt.: Demitrius Hester, P, pin Eric DeBeau, 1:47. 103: Eric Dunnet, P, dec. Ken Knapp, 9-2. 112: Joe Duca, P, tech. fall Allen Phillips, 5:20 (18-3). 119: Ed Wurtenberger, P, dec. Dan Conroy, 10-3. 125: Niko Lopez, P, dec. Robert Piper, 8-4. 130: Joe Lospinoso, B, pin Josh Kline, 0:40. 135: Joe Mraz, B, dec. Brandon Samuels, 2-0. 140: Matt Loffa, B, dec. Ryan Hoehn, 5-3. 145: Steve Margolin, B, dec. Jim Gentile, 5-1. 152: Jeff Hamilton, P, dec. Anthony Evans, 7-1.

GROUP 3

SEMIFINALS

Kingsway 55, Warren Hills 15

145: Mark Hague, K, pin Rick Graff, 0:48. 152: Rob Whedon, K, pin Mark Artigliere, 2:57. 160: Mark Gattuso, K, dec. Chris Hrunka, 7-4. 171: Tom McCauley, K, pin Dave Barilla, 1:29. 189: Kyle Frey, WH, pin Rick DeMartin, 3:01. 215: Cody Berry, K, dec. Alan Jennings, 4-2. Hwt.: Andrew Prince, K, pin Mike Griffith, 4:21. 103: Kurtis Becker, K dec. Ryan Brouhard, 9-0. 112: Shawn Lance, WH, pin Matt Macarone, 1:45. 119: Rick Foley, WH, dec. Justin Salvatore, 5-4. 125: Rich Bushby, K, pin Anthony Gaito, 0:14. 130: John Renard, K, pin Scott Brands, 1:16. 135: Josh Smith, K, dec. Sean Smith, 3-1. 140: Ryan Dorman, K, pin Gerard Pickett, 5:28.

FINALS

Kingsway 33, Ocean 28

152: Rob Whedon, K, pin J.J. Bradford, 1:18. 160: Joey Falco, O, dec. Mark Gattuso, 5-3. 171: Kyle Kiss, O, dec. Rick Martin, 13-5. 189: Jeff Sicliano, O, dec. Tom McCauley, 2-0. 215: Cody Berry, K, pin Scott Weldon, 2:39. Hwt.: Andrew Prince, K, dec. Ted Konopka, 4-3. 103: Kurtis Becker, K, dec. Mike LeCompte, 5-0. 112: Mike Beradesco, O, pin Matt Maccarone, 1:02. 119: J.P. Palandro, O, dec. Justin Salvatore, 4-1. 125: Zac Coulas, O, dec. Rich Bushby, 1-0. 130: John Benard, K, pin Bill Knifel, 1:11. 135: Josh Smith, O, dec. Andrew VanDyk, 5-2. 140: Ryan Dormann, K, pin Mike Recchia, 5:32. 145: Nick Menditto, O, by forfeit.

NON-PUBLIC A

FINALS

Camden Catholic, 32, Don Bosco Prep 25

152: Joe Sargenti, DB, pin Brett McCormick, 0:46. 160: Nick Vetterlein, DB, pin Joe Miller, 0:52. 171: Trace McDermott, DB, dec. Chris Franz, 5-2. 189: Anthony Tringone, CC, pin Chris Manna, 3:09. 215: Lukas Stala, DB, dec. Matt Posch, 3-1. Hwt: Anthony Maloney, CC, dec. Mike Farr, 3-0. 103: Mike Tully, CC, dec. Jason Dack, 2-0. 112: Vinny Fava. DB, dec. Taylor Walsh, 6-4. 119: Corey Schmidt, CC, dec. Frank Acosto, 10-4. 125: Alan Dyer. CC, tech. fall Chris Dombrowski, 5:52 (19-4). 130: Ryan Masterson, CC, pin Joe DiBaitolo, 0:42. 135: Dale Fava, DB, dec. Justin Dunfield, 14-4. 140: Dakota Moore, CC, dec. Brian Dack, 5-0. 145: Jackson Brady CC, dec. John Dack, 6-1.